The Art of Breaking
by Cindylou30
Summary: In this AU, Gene prematurely discovers Tony's biggest secret before the finale of season one. What does his quest for ultimate power lead him to do with the information? How can he solve one of his biggest problems- the nuisance of Iron Man- without losing a valuable asset to his search for the Makluan rings?
1. Chapter 1

**A/N Hi, guys! I hope you've all been well and had a wonderful Christmas! New Year is coming up; are you excited for 2017?**

 **By the way, thank you all so much for your kindness and kind reviews upon my return. It was really heartening and that's what convinced me to keep writing. I've written more in the last week than I have in the last year! So again, thanks. It's so very appreciated.**

 **Okay, so about this story: I was brain-storming ideas for the next one-shot I wanted to do, and I had an idea an AU revolving around season one Mandarin, Tony, Pepper and Rhodey. Well, you know how sometimes you start writing, with a clear road map of how you want the story to go, but then the characters take hold of the reins themselves? This was one of those times. What I intended to be a short one-shot took four pages just in the planning stage; and this chapter is one of the longest since I've been back. I'm incredibly excited for this story, and I hope you all enjoy it!**

 **A brief warning, though; this story will be more introspective than many of my others, so it will be more of a departure from my normal style. Hopefully I'll grow stronger with it as the story progresses!**

 **This chapter is mostly from Gene's perspective, though the whole story won't be like that. This story takes place at some indeterminate point after the episode "World On Fire," where Tony, Pepper, and Rhodey recover the fourth ring from the volcano. I'll take a few liberties with one or two plot points, but for the most part I'm picking up from there- including where the characters currently are in regards to one another. That will change over the course of this story- including future Pepperony, although other pairings are hinted- but no more spoilers!**

 ** _IM:AA_ doesn't belong to me. (Ooh, look, I finally figured out the fancy line-break!)**

* * *

Today was just not Gene's day.

"I don't have time for this!" he snarls in his distorted voice as he flings a gauntlet-clad hand towards his adversary. The purple ring on his index finger glows with supernatural light as he constructs a gravity field to pin Iron Man to the ground; the hero's attempt to deflect the attack with his shields is too late. Gene hears a pained grunt as the brunt force of the ring slams into him, pinning his arms to his side and binding him rigidly to the ground. As he levitates towards the hapless Iron Man, Gene reflects on the series of events that led to him being here, now.

His morning had started off as much the usual; he'd woken up at five, gotten ready for school, and then donned the rings to appear as Mandarin to the Tong before he left for the Academy. The purpose of this was both to instruct them in his absence as well as to give them a suitable reason for his departure; his default excuse was his search for the rings, which was certainly believable. The Tong were well aware of his fixation, though they didn't understand his drive, and they also knew that his personal quest had led him to neglect several duties of the Mandarin- such as dealing with their bitter rivals, the Maggia. As was his luck, it was today that his inaction had caught up with him.

"Man-dar-in!" one of the warriors had greeted him this morning, dropping to his knees, head bowed to show respect before Gene, who sat erect on his throne. Several more waited apprehensively behind as the man launched into rapid-fire Chinese, speaking of deals ruined by Maggia interference and attacks on several of their docking bays. Gene would have waved the situation aside like normal- all he cared about were the rings, not turning a profit, so why should he care?- but the unrest in the men around him was palpable. Mutinous thoughts bred like fleas if you didn't snuff them out quickly enough, and it was time that he took action before he had a revolt on his hands.

And that's exactly what he'd been doing. He'd led his men to attack a suspected base for the Maggia, if not to assuage his men's doubts, then to at least have them stop complaining. He'd been correct in the location, and within minutes his men were all involved in brawls through the streets and into the building with the surprised Maggia henchmen. Gene had been hovering about, carelessly taking out random Maggia members with the use of his red and green rings when he felt so inclined, when _he'd_ appeared. As if this was any of his business, as if he had any _right_ to be there at all, Iron Man had encroached on their territory, drawing out what was meant to be a quick conquest into a full-out battle with a blast from his repulsors. There was nothing to be won against a skirmish with Iron Man, but he couldn't afford to look weak in front of his men. Mandarin had attacked.

Under the weight of the ring, Iron Man was attempting to squirm free; Gene could feel the energy emanating from the armour as the unibeam began to fire. Gene clenched his fist and sent another raw wave of power to assail the armoured vigilante. He could hear the strained cries of pain and the light from the crimson chest-plate flickered and died. He took minor satisfaction in the victory.

The Mandarin descended to the ground where Iron Man lay, a wry frown carving along his lips. Why did Iron Man always have to appear when he was least prepared? He'd already succeeded in making him look _weak_ and _incompetent_ in front of the Tong. Now he seemed doggedly determined to stop him from obtaining the remaining Makluan rings, as if he understood anything at all about the Mandarin's objective or the combined power of the rings. It was- in a word- _infuriating._

For now, Iron Man was incapacitated and at his mercy. Gene smirks as he lifts the field and promptly propels Iron Man into the side of a brick building; before he even has time to hit the ground the Mandarin has teleported in front of him, shoving him against the wall with a heavily armoured arm. Metal groans and bends minutely under the force.

"A true study of the ancient Chinese arts knows how to find his opponent's weaknesses," Gene gloats as he digs a clawed glove into a damaged part of Iron Man's armour between his shoulder-panel and neck. He pushes his glove in further, earning a shocked hiss as he punctures the pilot's flesh. "The _chinks_ in his _armour_."

"Well, I never learned martial arts," Iron Man retorts with forced bravado; Gene barely has a moment to register the hum of the unibeam before it catches him solidly in the chest, blasting him backwards into the street and jarring his head beneath his helmet. "But I'm a quick study." Gene doesn't give him time enough to strike; he teleports again, this time far above where the action below is dying down. Curse Iron Man, with his meddling and infernal banter. Gene has no time for such things.

"Tong! Away!" He commands in Chinese, and a moment later all the men, shawled in dark wraps, have disappeared into the shadows. He's about to leave as well when a shout below catches his attention. Iron Man is standing on the sidewalk, clutching at his shoulder, his mask upturned to stare at him.

"This isn't over, Mandarin! Once I find out where you're hiding, you're _through_!"

Bold words for a guy who'd almost become a shish-kabob.

He doesn't dignify it with a response and instead opts to leave.

* * *

The headache he's adopted from the fight still hadn't gone away the next morning.

Gene fiddles with his locker combination distractedly, struggling to listen in on the discreet conversation taking place just down the hall. Stark is whispering urgently to Pepper and Rhodes under his breath; Pepper's hands excitedly wave in the air as she responds to whatever he's just told her. Tony looks exhausted, the circles under his eyes more defined than ever; he shuts down whatever objections the redhead had been pelting him with in his calm and pragmatical manner.

Although Gene doesn't care about overhearing personal drivel, he has the distinct impression they're talking about _him_. Over the last few days he's caught them huddled like this, always whispering, always closing down the gossip circle as soon as he arrives. Tony's deer-in-headlights look whenever Gene, with calculated disinterest, asks what's going on is almost enough to affirm his suspicions.

Whatever it is that they're so intensely debating, as long as it doesn't have to do with the rings, he's fine with it. He knows that he's not part of Stark's inner circle, nor does he have any inclination to be. Being included doesn't matter to him when he knows they're not really his friends; he's just using them until he can finally fulfill his destiny and claim all five rings. Having an actual... _connection_ with them would make things messy and complicated in the future when he unveiled himself as wielding the rings of power. Those were emotions and attachments he couldn't afford to possess.

At least, this is what he tells himself. The truth is that his own duplicity bothers him now more than he's likely to admit. When he'd blown that up plane all those months ago, fully intending for the resulting explosion to take Tony Stark's life, it had been collateral he'd been willing to accept. But now... Now he'd grown fond of the trio, intentionally or not, especially Pepper. She was rambunctious and talked too much for her own good, yes, but Gene found her endearing all the same. On top of that, she seemed to genuinely enjoy his presence, and he, hers. They were polar opposites, contradictions, but perhaps that was what had drawn them closer together over the past few weeks; that, atop the girl's unabashed gratitude the day he'd "saved" her from the Tong. Yet another lie.

Rhodes and he weren't _bosom buddies_ , but Gene knew that with Stark came the package deal of the overbearing brother-figure. Recently the guy seemed to have loosened up around him, maybe even trusting him more, which of course was good news for Gene. He'd been worried for a while that Stark would eventually begin to listen to Rhodes's incessant warnings to keep his distance and put down the search for the rings; but now, finally, with both Pepper and Rhodes's blessings, he'd been fully integrated into the group.

As for Stark- betraying _him_ made Gene feel the most guilty.

For lack of a better term, Tony Stark was naive. Not just in the sense of his everyday _is this a normal human thing that normal humans do?_ dilemmas, but also because he was entirely too trusting for his own good. All it had taken was a few chance encounters and enrolling at the Academy, and _bam_ \- Gene had one of the greatest minds of the planet at his disposal, working to locate the Makluan rings. And not only working _for_ him, but working _with_ him. Tony was unknowingly working side-by-side with the man who had nearly killed him in a plane crash, and _had_ stolen his father away. And yet he was blissfully unaware of anything suspicious and _Mandarin_ -y going on right under his nose.

It was almost too easy- if it was blatantly _unethical_ to be using him in such a way, then it was nearly _dishonourable_ for Gene to let him continue doing so in ignorance- even taking into account that this was just a means to an end. Tony was amiable, likable, with his easy smiles and kind eyes, but that behaviour was naivete on display. Gene was reserved and silent, sparing kindness to no one, because he knew that no one deserved it. He knew better than to trust anyone.

Or he told himself that he did.

Gene quickly turns to attention to his locker when he notices Tony break from the group and start in his direction. Had he caught him staring? He doesn't think so. Not that it would necessarily matter if he had. When Tony arrives, Gene is slamming the door shut behind his economics textbook. He glances over, pretending to notice Tony for the first time.

Up close, he looks even worse for wear than Gene had first realised. His blue eyes are dulled, eyelids drooping, his brown hair is mussed, and he all around just has a very disheveled and tired appearance. Gene also hasn't missed the sudden appearance of a jacket, red with grey trim, zipped tightly to his throat despite the warm spring weather outside. Tony leans against the lockers, and Gene notices he's holding his left shoulder stiffly. He makes a mental note to ask about that later.

"Hey, Gene. Sorry, no luck last night trying to search the books for the next location." Gene winces; even though Tony is smart enough to avoid using key words like _rings_ and _temples_ , he still feels uneasy talking about them in public like this. "Do you want to meet me and Rhodey and Pepper on the roof fifth period? We were going to talk about it then, see if there's anything we've come across that we're just overlooking."

Gene gives a curt nod. "Yes, that sounds fine."

Tony grins, shoving his thumbs into his belt loops and leaning forward, his eyes twinkling. "I have to warn you, Pepper is going to try to talk you into doing some lame play with her. She's already tried convincing me and Rhodey, and you're her obvious best bet." His voice drops conspiratorially. "It's too bad you have some _family business_ to take care of that day."

Gene smirks, immediately catching on. "Ah, yes, my dreaded day for _family business_ at the antique shop. Thank you for reminding me." He pauses, eyeing the bags under the inventor's eyes. "You don't look so good, Stark."

Tony laughs. "You don't look so pretty, yourself, Gene." Gene doesn't return the quip; it's likely true. He hadn't slept well after the attack yesterday afternoon, and his head still aches from the impact with the ground. "You ready for that final in physics?"

Gene shrugs. "As I'll ever be."

Tony offers him a disarming smile, saying something about "not sweating it." Then, the attempt at small-talk over, with a "See you fifth period!" Tony's disappeared into the thronging sea of students. Gene's lips twist with disgust as a young blonde bumps into him, giggling nervously as she apologises and shuffles away. His eyes glint behind his shades. He hates it here _so_ much; all these juveniles with their bumbling, empty words and poor hygiene and insignificant lives. Almost all of them found Gene idiosyncratic in nature, with his sneers and haughty body language and silence, and opted to give him his space, which he'd been grateful for.

All except Stark, with his ridiculous extension of friendship.

 _In another world,_ Gene thinks _, we could have been friends._ Real _friends. But I must do what I have to, to fulfill my destiny. To bring this chaotic world into order and peace._

* * *

A few hours later finds Gene climbing the final steps leading up to the rooftop. The others are already waiting for him there; Tony, just as unkempt as earlier, sits on the ledge beside Rhodey, who has his laptop open on his lap. Pepper's legs swing freely from the rafters as she babbles, pausing briefly to wave at Gene as he approaches.

"Kind of hot to be wearing a jacket," Gene remarks, his curiosity suddenly piqued at the reappearance of the jacket, still zipped up tight. Tony glances down at it with a sort of vindictive scowl. He pauses for a moment before his hands flits to the zipper at his throat.

"Yeah, you're right." Gene doesn't miss the sharp look Rhodes throws at the inventor, nor the purse of Tony's lips as he stares right back. He's clearly conveying a message with his eyes that isn't meant for Gene. "I'm _hot_ ," he insists as he unzips it. Gene watches the scene unfold as he takes a seat at the base of the scaffolding. When Tony peels of the extra layer, he feels every cell in his body freeze in shock.

Tony has medical gauze peeking out from under the collar of his shirt all the way to his shoulder, where his sleeve is rolled up. But that's not what has Gene's attention. Blood has soaked through both the gauze and his shirt, drying and leaving behind an irony brown colour.

The wounds are in the shape of four claw marks.

Marks that have been inflicted, he knows instantly, by the Mandarin's gloves.

Something sharp and unpleasant wrenches deep in Gene's gut, his mind reeling as he pieces together two-and-two. That's not _possible_ \- Tony Stark can't be- _no_ , not _him_ -

"Gene?"

But, it _fits_. The high-tech armour, the do-gooder persona, even the snarky wit. The fascination with the rings, and Stark's ability to survive temples- how he survived the _plane crash_.

"Is he okay?"

Iron Man's sudden guest appearances whenever he ran off- and all of those times Tony had slipped out of class, only for Gene to hear about another Iron Man encounter that night-

 _Tony Stark_ is _Iron Man._

"Gene?" Tony whistled at him, taking to his feet, but Gene beats him to it. Wobbling unsteadily on gelatinous legs, he brusquely waves off the three's concerned looks of askance. Pepper climbs down from the scaffolding as Tony lays a stabilising hand on his shoulder.

"I'm fine," Gene says quickly, frowning at his proximity to the inventor. Expression guarded, he mumbles, "Interesting cuts you have there."

"Yeah, they're- it's from a dog. Big dog. Big, mean, scary dog." Even if Gene hadn't already known what had inflicted those wounds he would have seen through the poor attempts at a lie. Tony glances to Rhodey before he turns his concerned gaze back on him. "Are you sure you're okay? You look kind of pale."

Rhodey steps into the conversation next, much to Gene's annoyance. "We should get him to the nurse."

"No I don't- I just..." He frowned, then pulled a queasy expression as he hugged his stomach. "I'm not feeling so good. I think I'm going to go home early."

"Do you need help? Can you..?" Tony steps back, lifting his hand just far enough away to let Gene test his feet on his own, hand still hovering in case he fell. Curse Stark and his darned pity. Gene looks up and makes the mistake of eye contact.

Those were the blue eyes hiding behind Iron Man's face-plate all these months. He feels some dam, locked away inside himself, break. He takes a shuddering breath and tries to reassert some control over his heart-rate, feeling altogether overwhelmed. It shows on his normally impassive face.

Concernedly, Pepper steps up to press a hand to his forehead, but Gene brushes her away. " _Pepper_ , I'm _fine_ ," he snaps, turning his back on them so that he doesn't have to see their worried faces. "I'll talk to you tomorrow. Let me know if you find out anything."

As he leaves, he can hear Tony whispering to his friends that _no, Gene hadn't looked very well that morning, either._ He grimaces to himself.

 _So_ , Tony Stark wasn't as innocent as he'd thought. All this time he'd been fighting feelings of guilt when the billionaire had been keeping hidden a secret of his own. He'd been played for a fool in the same way that he'd been tricking Stark. He'd been _duped_.

Just how he's supposed to feel about that, Gene isn't sure yet- but one thing he knows for certain is that, if handled very carefully, this could play out in his advantage.

* * *

 **A/N I hope you've enjoyed so far! An update will be up shortly. Be sure to review; let me know what you think!**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N Thank you, SilverPedals1402! I'm glad you're enjoying so far, and thank you for the compliment! I hope you like this chapter! (For some reason, I had difficulties writing it.)**

 **I wrote this chapter in about an hour and then spent a few _days_ nitpicking it. As the last, I ended up not writing it quite as I intended- but that was mainly because it was too long for me to fit everything in. (This chapter is basically the impetus for the rest of the story.) I promise, though, that things really start to pick up in the next chapter!**

 **This chapter is still rather Gene-heavy, although we do switch to Tony's perspective for the first time (which is always fun to write).**

 **Happy New Year, everyone! I hope it's a better year than the last for you!**

 ** _IM:AA_ doesn't belong to me; we'd be at least four seasons deep right now if I did.**

* * *

Another sleepless night. Gene's headache was being aided and abetted by the lack of rest, but it didn't matter. He had too much to occupy his mind for it grow idle enough for sleep.

After a few minutes of disgruntled tossing and turning, he'd thrown on some clothes and gone for a walk. Bundled up in his green coat, he ghosted the streets of China town, along with the dogs and the vagrants and gutter rats that bustled about without purpose, without direction. It was always eerily quiet here, at night; not a soul dared disturb the silence, as if it were sacrosanct. It was a stark contrast against the rest of the so-called "city that never sleeps."

Gene's chest feels crumpled and hollow. Tony Stark. _Iron Man_. It was a plot twist worthy of a poorly written young adult novel, and yet it was the truth all the same.

It was ironic; pacifistic Tony Stark had armed himself head-to-toe in a wearable _weapon_. The stubborn idealist wouldn't see it as a contradiction, Gene knew. Likely, Tony saw it as a method of peacekeeping, of ending battles before they could begin or grow. That was how the young Stark dealt with irregularities in his ethics; he squashed them together until they became something amorphous and justifiable.

Despite the excuses he would invariably have at such an aspersion, Tony wasn't so very different from the Mandarin, Gene thinks to himself. Both were using questionable tactics to advance their agendas. Both understood pain, and had grown from it. Both had the tenacity to go after what they wanted; and what they both wanted were the rings.

And, Gene now knew, both had secret identities and powers they wanted to change the world with.

Gene puffs into his cold fingers to warm them; silvery wisps spring from his lips and then dissipate as quickly as they'd come. He stares blankly ahead for a moment, his feet cemented to the sidewalk as he runs out of mental fodder to distract him from the matter at hand. His hand slips under his coat to run the pad of his thumb over the sleek metal of the rings.

Now what was to be done with Tony Stark?

Killing him wasn't an option- at least, not _yet_. Tony was a valuable asset, one that he had, regrettably, come to rely on heavily in his search for the Makluan rings. Subtracting the remaining Stark from that equation would be counterproductive, and brash. Gene operated with a certain amount of subtlety, tact, _finesse_. Murder would be a gross overreaction; and that sentiment wasn't only because of certain, cursed, attachments. No, it was purely impractical. Why kick his last rookie off the chessboard and leave his queen with no way to advance? Though Iron Man was a nuisance, and needed to be dealt with in some way, Gene, loathe as he was to admit it, _needed_ Tony. The last expert on the rings had died in his dungeons, leaving Tony as Gene's last resort.

 _There are other ways to take Iron Man out of the picture_ , his brain supplied. _Other ways to also have Stark at your disposal._

Gene frowns at the thought.

He could do as he'd done with Howard Stark. This, Gene reasoned, was a much more viable option. He would have Tony at his mercy- obviously with the removed element of the Iron Man armour- working around the clock on the search for his rings. Gene would have no interference in his conquest. He would have his informer at his fingertips. Best of all, he could finally reveal some key clues that Howard Stark had unearthed without fear of arousing suspicion. Why would it matter if Tony discovered the truth about his dad's disappearance? There would be nothing he could do. The arrangement would be ideal.

All it would take to keep Stark loyal and diligent would be threatening his friends. Best of all, everything could be done without revealing Gene's own identity, if he so wished. Tony's posse wouldn't suspect Gene, the police would have no reason to suspect Gene; there would be no leads and the investigation would end in a cold case.

 _What is the Western adage? "Two birds, one stone."_

Despite all of these factors, Gene still is hesitant to consider kidnapping- and he refuses to acknowledge that a large reason is his own guilt. No, he tells himself, just because he has stumbled by happenstance upon what many others have tried, and failed, to learn, it doesn't mean he has to act on it. At least, not immediately. And not so drastically. Manipulation, coercion; these are things that Gene is familiar with, things that thus far have worked for him. Maybe he can't convince Tony to stop being Iron Man, but perhaps he could find another spin, another web to weave that would benefit him in the long-run. Gene needs time to think it over before he takes action.

He's only being smart. There is no other reason.

It begins to drizzle on the walk back to his apartment that's nestled over the antique shop.

* * *

Gene spied on Tony the next morning, as the Mandarin.

If Tony was Iron Man, that meant two things: one, he had to have a base of operations, somewhere he stowed away his many suits of armour, and two: that was the most sensible place for Stark to be hiding the fourth ring. Gene's search of Tony's room had turned up nothing but empty Monster cans and lots of crumpled schematics in the waste-bin. The fourth ring had to be hidden somewhere else.

It was mainly for that reason that Gene had found himself crouching behind rusty turbines in the factory in the twilight hours of the morning. He wouldn't act yet. He was only here to gather information and locations.

The factory, he knew, was the most likely place for Stark to have a secret room stashed away somewhere. It was expansive, it was secluded, and, most of all, it belonged to him. As far as Gene knew, Tony didn't own any islands or yachts where he could stow his gear. As for the insubordinate amount of time the Three Musketeers spent here, with there being only a mediocre recreational set-up out front, Gene felt there _had_ to be something else in the labyrinthine buildings that he wasn't supposed to know about.

Gene was proven correct. Tony showed up at the factory less than half an hour after Gene himself arrived; he'd unintentionally led him straight to his hidden armoury. There'd been a hidden retinal scanner in a wall that opened up a secret basement area that Gene hadn't even known existed. Tony was engaged in a phone call the entire time, a distraction Gene took advantage of as he stealthily crept behind.

"Pepper, will you- No. _No_." Tony had huffed, kicking idly at a rock on the floor. It ricocheted, clattering noisily off the wall. "I don't know what his end-game is any more than you do." A pause. "Well, obviously. I mean, if the guy really is the leader of the Tong, then letting him wield _power beyond imagination_ really doesn't seem like a good idea."

Gene felt a pressure, a pinch, between his eyes. _He's talking about the Mandarin. He's talking about me._

"Yeah, well, Mandarin nearly took a chunk out of my shoulder yesterday. I won't be picking any schoolyard fights with him again until I can at least meet him on his level." Another sigh. "The Iron Man armour just isn't strong enough to take the jerk. I need to upgrade."

Even though Gene already knew Tony's secret, there is something surreal and devastating about hearing the confession from the inventor's own mouth. It's his death warrant, his unraveling and his most guarded secret, and yet he'd so carelessly spoken without so much as glancing around to see whose ears his words might fall on.

Honestly, Gene isn't sure how he's kept his identity private as long as he has.

* * *

Gene decides to attend his classes at the Tomorrow Academy in the morning as if nothing as changed. To Tony and Pepper and Rhodey, nothing _has_. He needs to keep it that way, and that means keeping up appearances by acting his usual self.

He successfully manages to avoid them all morning- ducking into bathrooms, changing his normal routes, and feigning deafness once when Pepper had called his name in the hall- but now it's third period. Economics. He shares it with all three of the friends, so there will be no sidestepping them this time.

He's barely in the seat before Pepper is flinging herself into the desk adjacent his. She begins assaulting him with a barrage of semi-worried, but mostly curious, queries that Gene can barely follow.

"Hey, are you okay? Where were you this morning? Are you feeling better? What was wrong? Oh, you're not _sick_ , are you? Could it be contagious? I don't wanna get sick. I had the flu for a week from stealing our rival school's mascot." The redhead scoots a little further away from him in her seat as though trying to dodge airborne germs.

"Pepper, leave him alone," Rhodey says, slipping into the seat in front of her. Tony has claimed the seat in front of Gene, dropping his heavy black backpack to the ground beside it as he flops down heavily. He's still favouring his injured shoulder, the jacket zipper securely fastened at his throat. Gene avoids eye contact, affixing his stare to the binder he's pulled from his backpack. "I'm sure if he's sick he wants a little space."

He _can speak for himself_ , Gene thinks irritably.

"Really, are you okay, though?" Tony twists in his seat, his arm resting on the back of his chair. "You looked pretty bad yesterday."

"Just not enough sleep, is all," Gene answers stiffly. Tony nods as though it's explanation enough. He's probably pulled many all-nighters in his labs and is sympathetic to the struggle.

"Hey, Gene-" Tony begins, only to be interrupted as the teacher chooses that moment to begin class. Tony pulls a face, shooting Gene a commiserating look before he straightens in his seat. Gene pushes his glasses up the bridge of his nose and heaves a sigh.

Something about the motley of confusing emotions surging in his mind makes him feel hot and uncomfortable in his own skin. He doesn't like sitting so close to Tony, or Pepper for that matter. He feels as though at any moment they will recognise the traitorous thoughts roiling in his head through a fracture in his facade. Tony may have accidentally outed himself to Gene, but Pepper was still innocent, and genuine. She had the tendency to speak rather bluntly, and therein held no secrets or told no lies. He found it refreshing, and- he'd admit it- he had come to enjoy her company, tiresome and riling as it may be. Gene didn't wish to see the crumpled expression she would wear if his betrayal became known.

Gene stares at the back of Tony's head as the teen hunches over his desk, fingers on one hand absently rumpling his already messy hair and the other gripping a pen. Gene is sitting so close to Iron Man; he has been, all this time. It's mind-boggling. Iron Man has friends, goes to school; Iron Man _knows Gene_. That's an unsettling thought.

Pepper slips a folded piece of paper onto his desk, snapping him from his reverie. Gene stares, brow furrowed, at the looping cursive asking him about a play. It's a few seconds before he remembers Tony's warning from the previous day- it already feels like a decade ago. Gene is touching pen to paper to scribble down an excuse when another sheet of paper lands on his desk. This time the sender is Tony.

 _You don't eat lunch at school, right? Meet me on the roof during your wave?_

Gene stares at it, perplexed. Stark wanted to meet him? Why? Was it about the rings? No, if it had been he would have already called him or sent him a text with the information. This is had to be something that had to be told in person or in private.

A thought strikes Gene like lightning: _He's not going to try to reveal himself as Iron Man, is he?_

That would definitely be... a problem. If Tony did intend to tell him, then Gene would be severely limited in the methods he could choose from to move forward. Ifnevitably Pepper and Rhodes would also know he'd been included in their little secret; if Tony suddenly went missing, Gene wouldn't be so unlikely a suspect. However, if he did tell him, wouldn't that give Gene an advantage in some aspects? If Stark planned a recon or raid or anything else on the Tong or Mandarin, Gene might be allowed _in-the-know._

Then again, _maybe_ knowing something is still a far cry from having Stark's genius under his command.

What can he do? Should he act now, before he has the chance to mess everything up? No, that wouldn't work either. Surely Tony would have already told his friend of his plans. All Gene can do is hope that he is wrong, and that Tony wouldn't choose today to showcase his blind faith.

Gene's heart is pounding as he writes back- _Sure_. He slips it over Tony's shoulder; slender fingers receive it almost instantly. There's a crinkle of paper and then Tony is craning his neck to shoot Gene a small side-profile grin.

Gene ignores him.

The rest of class passes by with little-to-no interaction between he and the others. Pepper passes a few notes until the teacher catches her, Happy gets threatened with the office for his random outbursts ("Tell them good luck taxing the money I have hidden under my mattress!"/ "Sit _down_ , Mr. Hogan."), and Tony gets caught hiding his POD phone behind his textbook. The teacher has pulled Tony aside to lecture him as class dismisses ("If you're going to own a business one day, you need to learn the intricacies of economics, Mr. Stark. They should be almost second-nature to you.") so Tony is helpless to do anything but give a bored looking wave to his friends as they pass by.

"I'll catch up with you guys later," he groans, and the teacher snaps at him for not paying attention.

"That class totally _sucks_ ," Pepper whines as they approach their lockers. "Mr. Hembree is such a drag."

"It wouldn't be so bad if you and Tony would pay attention every once in a while," Rhodey chides. "At least Tony has an A in there. You could afford to listen. Right, Gene?"

"What? Oh, sure," Gene mumbles distractedly. He doesn't wait for a reply and quickens his pace, leaving the two behind as he hears Rhodey complaining about "being snubbed again."

Lunch doesn't come quickly enough. When Gene finds himself on the rooftop, he's both agitated and surprised to see that Tony isn't waiting.

 _What is he going to do? He has to be planning to tell me. Unless... he knows that I'm-? No, that's not even possible. Stark would have gone after me already if he knew- and I would see it written all over his face._

The thought that he's just being paranoid doesn't even cross his mind.

Gene is staring out onto the street when he hears Tony's footsteps behind him. He takes care not to turn too quickly, to not appear overeager. Tony's hesitant, cautious expression seems to confirm Gene's suspicions. He fails to notice the way Tony's hands are positioned conspicuously behind his back, too distracted by his own racing thoughts repeating the same thing:

 _He's going to tell me._

"Gene, um..." Tony fidgets, toeing the floor in an uncharacteristically demure manner. "So none of us knew about your birthday last week until we heard about it over the intercom in morning announcements..."

It takes a moment for Gene to register his words; the last thing he'd expected to brought up was his birthday. He readjusts his sunglasses on his nose and struggles to recover, though Tony doesn't seem to notice his surprise. If he does, he doesn't say anything.

"It's fine."

"No. No, it's really not. We've been friends for months and I never even asked about your birthday." Tony frowns. "It's pretty sucky of me. So, I wanted to... make it up to you." From behind his back he produces a book, offering it to Gene expectantly.

Gene takes the book with numb fingers, turning it over onto its back and staring at the front cover. _The Great Works of Virgil_ , it reads in gilded script. The leather binding is worn but still in great condition; it's old, and undoubtedly expensive.

"You got me a birthday gift?"

* * *

If Tony had been expecting Gene to be grateful, he'd been wrong.

Gene was standing still as a statue, glaring at the book as if it's very existence was an affront to him as a human being. Tony couldn't see much of his eyes, hidden behind his green-tinted lenses, but he can tell enough by the rigidity in his jaw and the crease in his brows to know that his surprise's reception wasn't a positive one.

 _Dang it. What'd I do wrong?_

"Yeah, um..." Tony feels heat rushing to his face; he rubs the back of his neck, awkwardly shifting his weight from one leg to the other. "I thought, you know, you like old literature, and you'd mentioned once you had a collection of..." He falters as Gene's withering stare is turned on him. "Of... old plays and novels." He attempts a smile. "I got into a bit of an eBay war over it."

And by eBay war, he of course meant that he'd gone back and forth with some guy from Germany for all of ten minutes before he assigned the computer to the task and went to sleep. Tony might even have felt sorry for the rival buyer if he hadn't been so intent winning the bid. He'd been so sure Gene would like it. Now he just felt stupid. And embarrassed.

"This is a very thoughtful gift," Gene says slowly, as though he's deep in thought. Tony perks up a bit at that. Maybe he just needed time to warm up to the idea of receiving a present?

"So, you _do_ like it, or did I just make a complete jerk of myself?" He grins sheepishly. Besides not knowing trivial things like Gene's birthday, Tony had realised there was a lot more he didn't know about the teen.

Like what a suitable birthday gift would be.

"No, this is... I'll enjoy this." Gene's reassuring words don't match his pinched expression. Tony's cheeks redden again.

"Pepper told me I should have wrapped it," he blurts out, now thoroughly mortified. "And Rhodey said you probably already had a copy. I just... You've been so helpful, these past few months, in the search for the rings, when you definitely didn't have to be. There's been nothing in it for you- you're just being kind. I wanted to repay the favour." Tony averts his gaze to the distant horizon, missing the steely look in Gene's eyes.

Everything seemed to be going wrong today. He'd been up all night trying to track down some AIM beekeepers who had escaped with some of his dad's inventions from the Vault, with no success. Pepper had haggled with him for what she called "taking unnecessary risks"-battling the Mandarin- on the phone that morning. On top of that, he'd left Gene's gift in the armoury and had to run back to grab it. He'd been halfway to the Academy before he'd realised his mistake.

Now this was just another botched attempt to make some good come of the day. He wasn't exactly sure what he'd done wrong, but he knew he'd done _something_ to upset Gene. It was written all over the his usually impassive face. Tony feels extremely uncomfortable, sharing the rooftop with the irate teen, but his feet won't cooperate and lead him away. He's frozen in place, waiting for Gene to make a move.

 _This sucks. I was just trying to pay him back, and now he's looking at me like I just roundhouse kicked his grandma. Maybe he just_ really _doesn't like Virgil.  
_

Tony turns in surprise as Gene begins to walk away; he doesn't recover his senses in time to reply as Gene holds up the book in his right hand and calls back, "Thanks for the book, Stark."

The sound of the door slamming closed behind him nearly makes Tony flinch. _That could've gone better_. He releases the breath he didn't realise he's been holding, pulling out his phone. He groans at the message flashing on the screen.

 _Seventy-four new text messages from: Pepper Potts._

The redhead had just discovered she could send GIFs through text messaging. He'll pay Rhodey back for that later.

* * *

Gene had not had a moment to himself since he had gotten home from school.

The Tong had practically swarmed him with reports of Maggia attacks of retribution on Tong shipments. _Act_ _now_! They'd demanded. _Let them fear the Tong again! Show them the might of the Mandarin!  
_

That had opened a can of worms Gene didn't want to touch even with the protection of his armour.

His afternoon and much of his night had therefore been spent on strategy and planning for attacks he didn't even care to make. It wasn't until half past eleven that Gene stumbled into his bedroom, rubbing at his eyes under his glasses and biting back a yawn.

For the first time, Gene has enough time to consider the peculiar turn of events from earlier, on the roof.

Sitting on the edge of his bed, Gene reaches into his backpack and pulls out the leather-bound piece once again. This time he thoroughly searches it, cover-to-cover, checking for a tracking device or microphone or _something_ that would indicate some malfeasance on the scientist's part.

He finds nothing. His temper flares; blood rushes, thick and heavy, in his ears while his breathing quickens.

All of this time, Tony had been just as duplicitous as Gene, hiding his identity as Iron Man from him despite believing Gene to be as honest and helpful as he'd acted. Tony had been no better than he; he used Gene, made him a tool, leading him to believe he was something he wasn't. He'd gotten in the way of Gene's destiny.

Tony had called him his friend, and had given him this- this _gift_ , as an extension of his act. That was an insult, a mockery to the Mandarin. Tony wanted Gene as nothing more than a _dupe_. Gene could see it clearly now- at least, so he thinks- all of the gestures of geniality Stark had shown were fraudulent, tricks, manipulative. _Stark had played him_. Maybe he was smarter than Gene had first thought. After all, smart people know better than to be kind without cause, and Tony was supposedly a genius.

 _I don't care. I don't need a friend in Tony Stark, or anyone for that matter_. Gene leaps up from the bed. The work by Virgil thumps against the carpeted floor, drawing his attention. He stares at it for a moment before he slips on the Makluan rings, armours up, and then picks it up from the floor. The book shrivels and burns to ashes between his dark fingers. "I don't need his approval. I only need the rings," he says aloud to his empty bedroom.

A moment later, there is a flash of blinding white light. The Mandarin is gone.

* * *

 **A/N I'm not sure if I'm happy with the way this chapter turned out, but I hope you enjoyed! It was mostly the inner dialogue of Gene- he's so convinced of the bad in everyone! Poor guy- who did you wrong? Oh, yeah. Zhang. _Right_.  
**

 **Most of the next chapter is already written, so it'll be up soon. Be sure to let me know what you think! It's always appreciated.**


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